The present invention relates generally to flexible circuits configured for attachment to a moving device, and more particularly, to flexible circuits that provide two or more conductor trace paths with separate termini from localized connection points on the moving device.
The conventional method for flex circuit design for magnetic tape heads is one unitary flex cable per read and write head module, with a single connector at the distal end of the flex cable for connection to a circuit board. When an odd number of head modules are used in the head assembly, for example a three module head assembly configured as writer-reader-writer head modules, problems may occur with the conventional method if more flex cables are disposed on one side of the head actuator as compared to the other side. For example, using a conventional flex cable design with an odd number of head modules, having more flex cables disposed on one side of the head actuator as compared to the other side may create mechanical and electrical asymmetry issues with respect to unbalanced mechanical stress on the head actuator as the tape heads are moved.
A proposed solution may be to use two separate flex cables for one of the odd number of head modules. For example, to have one flex cable electrically connected to one half the channels of the head module be disposed on one side of the module, and another separate flex cable connected to the other half of the channels be disposed on the other side of the module. However, this proposed solution in fact adds complexity to the head module design due to the requirement to provide two flex cable bonding sites on the head module in a typically space-constrained area. As technology advances moved towards doubling or tripling of the number of channels per head, design complexities related to space requirements, cable and trace routing, cable flex bias, etc., will likely increase.